We Are the Sword in the Shadows
by Kaede Ravensdale
Summary: The War of the Fang has raged for centuries. 15 years after Humanity's Strongest vanished, a captured Death Dealer is revealed to be their missing comrade and he speaks of a plot that could destroy the Empire. "Black market slave trade." The blonde went stiff and Levi smiled, revealing fangs the length of his pointer finger. "It seems I have your attention now, Commander."
1. Prologue

The driving rain weakened the sunlight enough that he hadn't needed to wait for night to fully fall to emerge from the shelter of Reiss Cathedral's belfry. Levi crouched amidst the towering pillars and sweeping archways, hands gripping the stone below him and wings arranged in such a way that he'd be indistinguishable to passersby from the crenulated gargoyles clinging to the architecture. He watched the watery light fade from the streets of the city where he'd been born. Where he'd lived, once.

Ages ago, now. Or so it seemed.

The Death Dealer spread his wings with the soft crackle of stretching leather and, once certain no one could look up and see him any longer through the gloom, glided down onto the nearest roof. His black clothing blended with the saturated night, the perfect camouflage as he darted across buildings with a lithe precision. Silent and swifter than even a Scout.

Fake wings, he'd since learned, had nothing on real ones. Exhilarating as it had been to swoop about on the sturdy hooks and cables of the Three Dimensional Maneuvering Gear it could never compare to soaring high above the spires of Utgard Keep with his Night Lord brat at his side.

But now was the time to focus. The sooner he finished here the sooner he could return to his mate and the ice and snow.

The hiss of gas and metal drew his attention downwards as he sailed over the gap between two buildings. A member of the Military Police swung by without seeing him and he didn't stop to give the man a chance to rectify that oversight. The horned horse would never be the wings of freedom, but those who wore it as their insignia could still mean trouble for a lone Vampire. Especially one smack dab in the heart of the capital of the Holy Mitrian Empire, gunning for the head of the fat ponce they called a king.

And if they called in backup from the Scouting Legion…

Death Dealers were far better suited than Blood Mages for melee combat with their superior strength and constitution, not to mention abilities like Mikasa's shadow hunting or his own aura-sight, but even they-even he-had limits. And in honesty Levi wasn't certain he could bring himself to kill a former comrade, even if it had been fifteen years.

Even if they'd no longer recognize him as anything but a monster.

Not to mention the fact that he wasn't keen on going against the laws of the coven he belonged to, 'no wanton slaughter' being equivalent to the Golden Rule in Eren's eyes. An unhappy brat would only lead to him being locked out in the cold.

At the apex of his next jump he spread his wings again, a stiff breeze propelling him over the ramparts of Sina Palace and across the courtyard. As much of a pain as being relegated to gliding was, drawing attention to himself with wingbeats wasn't an option. Not if he wanted to remain undetected enough to be able to stop by the old stomping grounds before heading back north across the Dark Lands.

Levi gripped the stone with his talons and folded his wings, prowling along the wall with all the ease of a spider. Unbeholden to gravity. He couldn't enter a building without being invited, no Vampire could, and though this fact was well known to the humans who both feared and hunted his kind what they didn't seem to realize was that that invitation didn't need to be a verbal one.

An open window was all it took, and with the summer being warm in the low lands there were plenty of those to be found.

His head snapped around at the sight of motion to his right; silken curtains weaving in and out of the open doors of a balcony leading to the royal chamber. The Blood Gods were on his side tonight.

With all the noise of a cat Levi dropped from the wall, landing poised on the stone railing. He paused only long enough to secure his mask in place before slinking forward into the room. Just another of the night's shadows, armed with blades a plenty and enough strength to crush a human skull with one hand.

The masks were a sign of their coven, denoting them to each other and their enemies on the battlefield, but here it was a precaution. Unlikely as it was that anyone would see him, or that they'd survive doing so to tell about it, it was better that he wasn't recognized. Better his family had some false closure than know he'd willingly become the very beast he'd sworn to fight against.

As much as he hated the man for what he'd done and what he was involved in he made it quick, for Eren's sake. Pausing only long enough to carve what had become his moniker into the wooden headboard the masked raven exited the palace the same way he'd come, sailing back across the courtyard then climbing above the cloud line.

The rain pattering against his spread wings reminded him of the sound he'd so often heard curled up in a tent in the Dark Lands when stormy conditions had forced the Legion to put down stakes and wait out the weather. He swooped over Wall Rose which separated the Noble District from the Military District and banked left, towards the third allotted to the Scouting Legion.

Though noticeably dirtier, the barracks hadn't changed since he'd been gone. Levi bit down on his compulsive quirk, sprouted from the obsessive desire for a clean environment which had been severe enough when he'd been human, and landed on the roof. The sparing green. The stand of trees where 3DMG training took place. The stables which held the horses used for expeditions into the Dark Lands. So familiar. So missed, though it was no longer his home.

What he was doing was incredibly dangerous, and even more incredibly stupid, but he couldn't resist the opportunity to briefly stop in and check on those he'd once considered family. It had been so long since he'd ventured into Rose. He had to know, at least, if they were still alive.

He'd be quick and cautious and gone before dawn.

Thank the night for Hanji's tendency to leave the windows of her lab open. Levi slipped through the cluttered space, clambered up the walls and onto the ceiling. Slithering through the inverted halls until he caught one of the scents he was looking for. It was dulled with time and having last been smelled through the limited senses of a human but it was still instantly recognizable and more than enough to lead him straight to her room.

He dropped down, hissing softly when the floors creaked beneath the sudden application of his weight. Pale fingers closed around the knob and turned. Cracking the door first to make sure the occupant was sleeping and then opening it fully. He couldn't enter but he could look and that was enough. That was all he needed to do to know his adopted sister was still alive.

Her hair was still as red as he remembered, the darkness combining with his enhanced vision to saturate the strands in the same color as the scarf Mikasa always wore. Isabelle's back was to him, burrowed deep into the covers and fast asleep.

Levi closed the door again, slowly so as to prevent the hinges from creaking, and leapt back onto the ceiling. Off he went in search of Farlan.

He knew the blonde wouldn't be far and located the correct door not long after. A creak sounded from his right, plainly not caused by the protest of the wood below him, and his head snapped around. Vampiric reflexes were all that kept the silver blade from taking his head off.

The sharp edge lay into his shoulder and bit deep. He snarled and bared his fangs below the muzzle of the mask, swiping at Mike to ward off his next attack. The blonde fell back, adjusted his grip and prepared to come at him again.

He never got the chance.

The door to Farlan's room flew open and a harsh blow assailed the back of his head before he could turn. Without the slightest clue what in the Night he'd been struck with-though he'd bet his fangs Hanji had invented it-Levi staggered briefly then crumpled with a disgruntled hiss. Blood stained the floor a dark shade of crimson where it gushed from his open shoulder, the silver in the wound preventing it from sealing itself closed. His energy was draining away at an alarming rate and darkness closed around his vision.

The last thing the Death Dealer saw before losing consciousness was Farlan standing over him.


	2. Chapter 1

The chains emitted soft rattling sounds as the unconscious Vampire hung from their coiled grip, his wings-their span twice his height-pinned to the walls of the cell with silver daggers. His head lolled forwards against his chest, wood-formed wolf mask glinting bone white in the gloom. Blood dripped sluggishly onto the cracked stone floor.

Erwin stared at the suspended Death Dealer through narrowed eyes, Hanji Mike Isabelle and Farlan standing behind him along with their squads. Similar looks of hostile curiosity were written on their faces.

"The White Wolf." His low voice echoed off the stone walls. The torches guttered. "Night Lord Yeager's favorite assassin and the greatest Death Dealer alive. We've been hunting him for the better part of thirteen years and now he walked in through our door. Why?"

"An assassination attempt?" Petra looked over at her squad leader as she put the suggestion forward. Farlan shook his head, brow furrowed.

"That's unlikely." He said. "A Night Lord wouldn't send a Death Dealer into the very maw of the beast. If a member of the Legion was their target they'd look to ambush them while we were on an expedition. Isabelle and I know that fact all too well." The red head looked away from him, as if to hide her expression. "Furthermore," he continued, "they wouldn't waste their time with any rank below Commander. Behead the snake, it dies. But Mike found him outside of my door, not the Erwin's."

"You think he was out for abduction?" Hanji looked over in concern.

"It's more likely." He said. "But, again, a Vampire looking to abduct a Scout for conversion would wait until we were out in the Dark Lands. Separate them from the rest of the Legion and take them away like they did to-."

 _"Don't!"_ Her green eyes were over bright with unshed tears as she rounded on him. "He's dead! Big Brother is dead, no one of those things, don't suggest otherwise."

"He'd still be dead even if he were a Vampire. He wouldn't be the man we knew anymore." He said. "You're nothing but a monster once you're turned. A mindless slave of the Night Lords."

"Enough." Erwin intervened before Izabelle could respond and opened the door of the cell. The unoiled hinges shrieked and the Vampire twitched, but remained unconscious. "How did you find him?"

"I thought I smelled Leech." Mike crossed his arms over his chest. "He was shutting Isabelle's door when I found him and was about to open Farlan's when he noticed me. I don't know what he was looking for. Didn't stop to ask; Church knocked him out with one of those salt bludgeons Hanji made."

"It worked?" at the mention of the use of one of her formerly untested inventions the scientist couldn't help but jump on the subject.

"Yeah, it worked." Farlan said. "He was out in a couple seconds and hasn't woken up yet. Though that could have something to do with the fact that it's the middle of the day."

"What are we going to do with him?" Isabelle asked.

"Get whatever information out of this Death Dealer that we can and then put him down." Erwin now stood just on the edge of the tacky pool. "The first order of business is unmasking him. Finally knowing who we've been facing all these years."

The knotted string came undone with a snap when the Commander pried it free, and immediately dropped it in surprise. The wood landed in the puddle of blood with a muffled splat.

"Sweet Maria!" The timing between the disappearance of Humanity's Strongest and the first appearance of the White Wolf had been too loose to connect, yet it all made perfect sense. The best Death Dealers were born from twisted Scouts, and it stood to reason that the greatest Death Dealer alive would be the remains of Levi Ackerman.

There was significance with him being in the Legion's barracks when he'd been caught but if not murder or abduction than what? Was it possible some echo of the man he'd known had driven the Vampire to check in on those he'd once considered family?

"Commander!" There was stress in Farlan's voice and he didn't need to look behind him to know the other man was gripping the hilt of the dagger on his belt. "What is it?"

Blocking their view only delayed the inevitable. He trusted Mike and Hanji to contain their reactions, judging by his earlier words Farlan seemed to have to some degree expected such an outcome to be a possibility and his and Isabelle's squads had never known Levi. It was the red head's reaction he was most concerned about, considering she'd been in a state of near-denial that her 'big brother' could have been converted to the enemy. Erwin couldn't blame her for preferring to believe he'd sacrificed himself so they could escape and had been killed, or killed himself, but such a preference now became a problem.

It conflicted with reality.

Bracing for an uncertain outcome the Commander stepped aside. Those who had never met the former Lance Corporal looked on in confusion. Mike turned away. The expression of excitement which always seemed to be present on the Major's face withered like an unwatered plant. Farlan hissed a string of curses that would make a sailor blush as Isabelle buried her face in his chest, in tears.

It had gone better than he'd expected.

"There's nothing more to do but wait for him to come around." He left the cell, locking the door behind him. "Dismissed."

Farlan all but had to frog march Isabelle up the dungeon stairs, their respective squads trickling behind them. Hanji had wrapped her fingers around the bars in a tight grip. Mike watched from the foot of the stairs as Erwin placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It isn't fair." She watched the captive Death Dealer swing gently back and forth. "I know that life isn't fair, that those bastards target us like cattle to breed machines of war, but Levi didn't deserve this."

"The Night Lords won't be able to use him anymore." He said. "We'll lay him to rest once we get the information out of him."

"And we'll make Yeager pay for this." Mike said. "Him and all the other Night Lords."

"Without the Night Lords the Vampires will finally be gone. The world will belong to humanity again." The Major released the bars and stepped away. "That day can't come soon enough."

* * *

Isabelle accepted the tea which Petra forced into her hands but made no move to drink it. She'd stopped crying ten minutes prior and had been silent since. Tear tracks had dried silver on her face and Farlan looked at her with worry from where he sat across the table. Their squads had yet to part ways, taking a private lunch in his office instead of waiting to eat with everyone else in the main hall.

Krista and Thomas alternated between watching their squad leader stare into her cup and watching Connie and Sasha attack their food like rabid dogs. Petra had rejoined the rest of his own squad who seemed to be engrossed in a whispered conversation, firing occasional curious glances of their own in their general direction.

When another fifteen minutes passed and she still hadn't moved or spoken he sighed and said "you should all head out. I'd like to speak with Squad Leader Magnolia alo-."

"No!" Farlan nearly jumped out of his skin when she suddenly shouted. Her eyes were sharp despite the fresh tears threatening in their corners. "They can't leave yet. They don't know. They don't know who he was."

"Isabelle."

"We'd both be dead at least twenty times over if it weren't for Big Brother! They need to know that he wasn't always just some monster; it's the least that he deserves!" She snapped. "If you won't tell them I will. You can stick around and help me or you can leave."

Knowing better than to argue with her when she got like this and resisting the urge to point out the fact that this was his office the grey eyed blonde settled further back in his seat. "You're right." He said. "They've all heard the warnings about abduction but if nothing else it'll do them good to know that being strong, even being the strongest, isn't enough to protect you." His agreement seemed to settle her somewhat. Isabelle's posture relaxed. "Do you want to tell it or should I?"

"I'll start." Isabelle finally took a sip of her now lukewarm tea. "If I can't finish…"

Farlan nodded. "I'll take it up for you, to the best of my memory."

She waited for the others to seat themselves around them before beginning to tell the story of that awful night fifteen years before.

 _"Disgusting." Levi flicked blood from his silver blades, wires returning to their coiled position with the hiss of metal. "Just when I thought these Leech shits couldn't get to be any more of a pain in the ass that one," the short of stature raven jabbed the weapon in his right hand at the dissolving Vampire on the forest floor, "sprayed me down with gore."_

 _The branch dipped as Isabelle landed on it, balancing tilting dangerously forwards. He seized her collar, preventing the red head from tumbling from the tree, as Farlan landed on his other side._

 _"Watch yourself." Though the chiding was gentle it still held a stern edge. "Now isn't the time to mess around, Magnolia."_

 _She snickered around a wide smile. "Oh, come on Big Bro. I'm just having a bit of fun. What's wrong with that?"_

 _"He's not suggesting anything is wrong with having fun," Farlan said. "Just that you should wait to do so until we're somewhere safe."_

 _"At least one of you has their head screwed on straight. This idiot," the harshness of his words was belied by the way he reached over to ruffle her hair, "is liable to get herself killed."_

 _"Is that really new?" the blonde grumbled. "Remember the sparrow?"_

 _Isabelle blew a raspberry and Levi made a disgusted sound, stepping out of range. He fiddled with the levers of the 3DMG slung about his waist for a moment before deeming their state acceptable._

 _"Remember the fac that we've gotten ourselves separated from the others and don't have time to be remembering the time Magnolia almost got herself beaten to death over a bird with a broken wing?" mild, again, but still holding that edge of steel. Wolf-pelt eyes fluoresced in the dark. "Let's head back to the horses. We need to meet back up with the Legion before more of Yeager's parasites come looking to spirit us off or Shitty Glasses and Eyebrows Tree to have a conniption. Whichever happens first."_

 _He swung away into the night with the grace of a bird, closely followed by the other two. They hadn't left the horses terribly far away but it was still a bit of a ways to travel. And, unfortunately enough of a span to draw attention with the hiss of metal and scent of gas._

 _Levi caught sight of the winged monstrosity in time to swing out of its path. It careened by with one of his blades threaded through its neck, but this time the Vampire wasn't alone._

 _"Levi!"_

 _"I know!" The raven didn't turn at Farlan's shout. Didn't need to in order to know, from the flurry of beating wings, that the Night Lord's entire coven was closing in on them. "It's obvious what they're searching for but there's only one of us they're really after."_

 _"You're not suggesting what I think you are, are you?" the blonde sounded horrified._

 _"We don't have another choice." He said. "They'll catch up to us for sure on horseback and we don't have enough gas to make it back to the rest of the Legion with just our gear."_

 _"But Big Brother-!"_

 _"Quiet, Isabelle! It's better one of us than all of us and I'm the one they're certain to leave you two be to catch." Levi snarled over the rushing wind and shrieks of the approaching vampires. "Who better to turn, if you're looking to create a weapon, than 'Humanity's Strongest'? When I break right_ _ **get back to the Scouts!**_ _"_

 _"But you've already lost one of your blades!" Isabelle protested. "You won't be able to kill all of them with only one!"_

 _"I'm not planning to kill them all and I only need one blade!"_

 _Understanding had dawned in Farlan's eyes. "You're going to-."_

 _"Did you think I'd let them drag me back to Utgard? I've no interest in rebirth! And I'll make sure even a Night Lord can't undo my death." He turned his head, the moonlight making his eyes glow like silver coins. "Take care of Magnolia. Mitras knows she can't keep herself out of trouble."_

 _Farlan only managed to nod in response before the other man shot off to the right. The winged herd banked to follow and soon all of them had vanished into the darkened trees._

 _They reached the horses what seemed like an eternity later and pulled themselves up onto their backs. When Farlan made to grab the reins of the silver-dapple Levi had been riding Isabelle caught his wrist and stopped him._

 _Her face was streaked with tears. "No. We have to leave her." She said. "Big Brother won't be able to catch up to us without his horse."_

 _"Isabelle," he tried to make his words gentle but doubtlessly failed. He'd watched his best friend from childhood, his brother in everything but blood, disappear into the night with a hoard of Vampires on his heels and every intention of sheathing the one blade he still had between his own ribs. It was forgivable that his nerves were a little jangled. "He isn't-!"_

 ** _"Levi isn't just any soldier, Farlan, he's Humanity's Strongest! He'll be back at the Legion's camp come morning!"_** _She yanked on the reins and started away. "We're leaving the horse."_

 _Knowing it wasn't worth the fight that she'd put up, Farlan reluctantly left the animal behind and followed her._

"The Lance Corporal was a great man and a great soldier. He took us both in back when we were all children living on the streets. Please," Isabelle clutched the empty teacup so tightly it almost shattered, "don't think of him as that thing hanging in the dungeons. It's just wearing his face."

"They caught him, then?" despite never having dealt with the red head's more volatile moods Eld seemed to know instinctively to keep his words somewhat delicate. "Stopped him from taking his life when they cornered him?"

"It's the only possible explanation. And I think I may know how." Farlan said. "A Blood Mage of the Etheralki specialization. Levi's will was iron and mind control would have been something he could throw off but there are records of a Puppeteer in Zeke's coven. And there's no reason to think he wouldn't have been there with the rest."

"A Puppeteer?" Sasha sounded confused.

 _That's right. Isabelle's squad aren't much more than recruits and an ability that rare wouldn't be something Shadis would mention._ He set his own cup down with a sigh. "'Puppeteer' is what we call the Leeches with the ability, but they probably have their own word for it. They're rare, as far as the Legion knows there's only one, and we're lucky for that because his control can't be thrown off with a strong mind."

"Because he doesn't target the mind." Gunther adjusted his position against the windowsill. "He targets the body. Manipulates blood to make his opponents dance on strings like a marionette. Hence the name."

"There hasn't been record of Eren Yeager in four hundred years." Petra said. "For all we know he could be dead."

"I'd kill for us to be that lucky." Oluo grumbled. "Would rather you have tea with that Death Dealer strung up downstairs than go within ten miles of that Etheralki. The only way to kill him with a power like that would be to trick him into sunlight."

"Every power has something that negates it." Krista pointed out. "And with the covens constantly in a state of war with each other for control of the Dark Lands the other Night Lords would be out in search of someone who possessed it."

"Dampeners are nearly as rare as Puppeteers." Isabelle said. "Fat chance they'd have of finding one. Especially with their current focus on farming Death Dealers. Physical abilities and high constitution isn't much of a match for Etheralki or Corporalki gifts. Even if Blood Mages are glass cannons the ability to foretell your opponent's movements or expertly wield any weapon is nothing against a foe that can incinerate you or make your heart explode on a whim."

Their conversation ended abruptly on that note when another member of the Legion tumbled through Farlan's door.

"Squad Leader Magnolia, Lance Corporal Church, the Commander wants to see you!" The recruit was out of breath and red in the face. "There's been another murder in Sina."


	3. Chapter 2

The Military Police regarded them with a certain sort of apathy as the small group of Scouts walked down the palace halls in silence. Nile Dok stood at the end of the hallway with his arms folded behind him, watching their approach.

"Nile." Erwin addressed his fellow Commander with steel in his tone. It had been a long time since they'd last been anything near what a sane individual could refer to as 'friendly' but both men were professional enough to maintain a 'respectful' working relationship when need be.

"Erwin." The Commander of the Military Police's tone was clipped. His dark eyes fell on those behind him. "An interesting…entourage you've brought with you. The Major and Lance Corporal I can understand but were the Squad Leaders really necessary?"

"Who I bring with me is neither your concern, Nile, nor the matter you called us here about." His words were cold. Behind him, Isabelle glared at the black haired man. "They're here because they all have some connection to the White Wolf and I felt it pertinent they be present for the examination of the scene of his last kill."

"Last kill?" he repeated. "So the White Wolf is dead?"

"Not yet." Erwin said. "But he will be, once he's spoken."

"But you know his identity?"

The Scout Commander heaved a heavy sigh. "Ex-Lance Corporal Levi Ackerman is no longer to be considered 'missing in action'."

Nile rocked back on his heels, pale beneath his goatee. "Maria." He said. "But it makes sense, even if the timing is off." Turning abruptly, he began to walk away. "He landed quite the blow for his last effort. The King is dead."

The others stiffened. Erwin forced down the urge to mutter a few choice swears. "Someone must have invited him into the castle. Into the royal chambers. Is anyone else dead or missing?"

"No. However he got in he worked quickly and got out again. Efficient. Just like always. Just like back when he was one of your men instead of one of Yeager's." He turned a corner. "We're in the process of looking for potential traitors but thus far we've found nothing. Focus on your job: putting that fang-bearing bastard down."

"The Legion is aware of what our 'job' is, 'Commander'." Farlan growled, shooting Nile a glare which looked strikingly similar to Levi's. Erwin's look of warning went all but ignored.

"The White Wolf left his usual moniker?" he asked in an effort to steer the subject away.

The other man nodded and turned his baleful gaze from Farlan. "Yes." He said. "The wolf's head which seems to be Night Lord Yeager's sign and a rough approximation of the Wings of Freedom. Ackerman seems to have developed a fondness for mocking the symbol he once proudly wore."

The doors of the royal chamber were closed. Another pair of Military Police members stood astride them, neither that much older than recruits.

"Hitch, Marlow, open the doors." The pair all but tripped over themselves in their rush to do as he'd said. The hinges creaked as they swung inwards and the stench of blood hit them like a brick wall. They stepped into the room.

Blue eyes scanned over the scene, quickly taking note of what lay before him. The corpse was sprawled on rumpled bloodied sheets, a single stab wound to the heart delivered by what looked like a dagger though no traces of weapons had been found on Levi. The White Wolf's moniker had been scratched into the wooden head board above his victim. Nothing else in the room appeared disturbed.

"Has anything been moved?" He asked. Hanji approached the corpse and began checking it over for further damage.

"We shut the balcony doors when we arrived to keep out the wind." The boy, Marlow, reported from the doorway. "But no, Sir, nothing other than that."

"Very well." He looked to Nile. "Once Hanji finishes her examination we'll be done here. The King's killer is in custody and the work here, as far as the Legion is concerned, is finished. We'll get out of your hair so you can finish hunting down any bribed servants or guards."

Judging by the sneer he received, the barb in his tone was neither unnoticed or appreciated. "Just make sure you do your job correctly! We don't want him coming back to life again!"

In a manner which, in Erwin's opinion, had very little dignity Nile turned on his heel and stalked out of the room. Once the Commander of the Military Police was no longer in earshot Isabelle blew a raspberry. Farlan glared in silence at the spot where he'd vanished.

"Alright, I'm done." Hanji straightened up. Seeing four pairs of eyes on her, she shook her head. "The only wound on him is the fatal one to his chest. Just like all of his other kills it was a single, precise, nearly instantly fatal and all but painless wound caused by a weapon other than claws or fangs. And he's never drank from any of them as far as the evidence we have suggests. Levi isn't like any of the other Death Dealers we've seen. Any of the other Vampires we've seen. I have so many questions I want to ask him." All at once her excitement died, shoulders slumping. "But he won't answer any of them. He won't even call me 'Shitty Glasses' anymore because he won't know who I am. Won't recognize any of us because of what that bastard did to him."

"We should get back." Mike said after the silence stretched far too long. "It'll be dark, or getting there, once we get back to the barracks and we shouldn't waste time we could be using to interrogate him."

Farlan didn't say a word as he pushed off from the wall he'd leaned against, pulling Isabelle with him out the door. Mike followed, leaving Erwin and Hanji to bring up the rear.

Their horses hadn't been moved from where they'd left them; their hooves clattered on the uneven cobblestone as they exited the walls of Sina Palace and clopped down the street back towards the gate into Mitras City's Military District.

The spire of Reiss Cathedral split the light of the setting sun into conflicting beams of red and gold. Given all that had happened in the recent hours the sight of it brought back an onrush of memories.

 _Levi's black hair swung with the rolling gate of his horse, face unreadable as ever as he regarded the hulking form of the cathedral. He hadn't been in the Legion for very long by that point but had already proven himself incredibly capable in the field and Erwin felt he knew him well enough to recognize the contempt in his silver eyes._

 _"Not much of one for religion?"_

 _The smaller man turned his head to look at him. "Tch!" Was the first sound out of his mouth in three hours. With how much Hanji had riled him up before they'd set out it was fairly understandable he wasn't in much of a mood for words. "What's the point of sitting in some shitty building praying to a nonexistent 'Sky Daddy'? 'Faith' doesn't protect anyone from those fang faced fucks and I haven't the time to delude myself."_

 _Rather caught off guard Erwin could do nothing but laugh; he doubted he'd ever come across quite the same combination of taciturn and blunt again. Levi made the same chuffing sound as before and looked ahead of them. "You're going to tell me you've seen a Vampire stopped by 'hallowed ground' or some other such notice, Eyebrows Tree?"_

 _And then there was the matter of his tendency for coining incredibly sticky less than flattering nicknames. "No. I agree with you." He said. "I've just never heard it said in quite such a…colorful way before."_

He pulled his eyes away and kept riding. The members of the Garrison barely looked at them as they raised the gate and let them out of the Royal District. Twenty minutes later they were stabling their mounts.

Petra appeared in the doorway just as he was closing the stall of his horse. "He's awake?"

The ginger young woman nodded. "Yes, Sir, but he's different."

"Different?" Farlan repeated. "What do you mean?"

"His eyes, they're…it's probably better you see for yourselves." With that said the small group exchanged looks of concern and followed her back into the barracks and down the dungeon stairs.

Hearing their footsteps the Death Dealer calmly raised his head. Erwin almost tripped down the last few stairs and a few of the others gasped but there was no further reaction.

The Vampire's chirp sounded disappointed, golden eyes falling half lidded. "Well, it was amusing while it lasted." He drawled, jerking his chin in Connie's direction. "Cue ball almost shit his pants when he noticed my eyes weren't red like all the others. And speaking of shit," the amusement slid off his face, "that's the adjective I'd use to describe your standards! Has this place _been_ cleaned since I last took a broom to it?"

Farlan was staring, dumb founded, through the bars. Isabelle had covered her mouth with her hands. Hanji was slowly shaking her head, eyes wide.

"He remembers. That's not possible. He…He remembers!"

"It's some sort of trick!" Mike glared at the vampire. Levi stared back at him with his trademark dead pan. "Leeches don't remember who they were when they were alive. Ever."

"Just because a pattern exists, Sniffer, doesn't mean there can't be exceptions." The metal clinked as he attempted to adjust his position, the chains biting deeper into his already burned wrists. The wound on his shoulder was still open and dark red but had stopped bleeding. "As I'm sure Shitty Glasses can tell you correlation does not equal causation. Becoming a Vampire doesn't rob you of your memory and identity, the Night Lords do. They supplant it with their will because it makes you easier to control. But _my_ Night Lord doesn't believe in such a barbaric, shitty practice having been subjected to it himself."

Giving up on finding a comfortable position Levi relaxed his arms and let himself swing.

"If you'd like me to describe the exact appearance and dimensions of Commander Eyebrows' dick to prove that I really do remember and this isn't some trick I can. The image, unfortunately, is still seared into my memory from the year I had to chase him through have the barracks with a pair of pants after one of Hanji's shitty Christmas parties!"

"I-I remember that year!" The scientist sounded as unsteady as she looked. Isabelle made a hysterical sound halfway between a laugh and a sob. Half the others in the room were bright red.

"He's an outlier. What does it matter? He's still a Vampire." The pain in Farlan's voice was well hidden. Golden eyes blinked at him owlishly. "Memories or not this isn't Levi. He may have hated the nobles but he'd never have risked innocent lives by killing the King. And he wouldn't have killed any of the others. The man we knew only wanted to protect Humanity."

"Which is precisely why I asked for this. What do you think I've been doing, Farlan?"

" _How is regicide helping Humanity? Because of what you've done the Empire could collapse!"_ None of them were sure who said it and it didn't really matter. Levi ignored them in favor of looking back at Erwin.

"They'd only be rumors on your end, not that that's stopped a certain blonde from sticking their gigantic eyebrows into matters. 'Discretely' of course; because no one's at all liable to notice a fucking giant poking around where he shouldn't be." He snorted. "But they're a lot more than just rumors on mine. We're tracing it from the 'market' side, after all."

"I've had enough of your deflecting." The Vampire regarded him with unimpressed boredom. "From now on you'll only speak when you're answering a question and once we've finished ringing information out of you we'll-."

"You'll what? Stake me out in the sun?" Levi chuffed and rolled his eyes. A hiss of anger issued from the direction of Farlan's squad. Erwin himself could feel one of the small muscles in his face start to twitch. Spitting and defiance was typical, as were insults and snarling, but this-Levi being what all but amounted to his typical self even when he wasn't anymore, going against everything they thought they knew about Vampires and how they worked-was too much. "Four words tell me that you won't."

"And what would those 'four words' be?" Mike took a threatening step towards the caged and bound Death Dealer.

The little raven made a point of locking gazes with Erwin when he answered. "Black market slave trade." The blonde went stiff and Levi smiled, revealing fangs the length of his pointer finger. "It seems I have your attention now, Commander."


End file.
